Photo: Getty Images
A Black woman says her act of protest against the overturn of Roe v. Wade at the 2022 Golden State Warriors championship game led to her being pulled out of the arena by her feet, handcuffed, and involuntarily injected with a sedative.
According to the Associated Press, protestor Kareim Mcknight has filed a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco after allegedly being sedated against her will outside of Chase Center on June 13.
McKnight and her friend Amanda Piasecki were at Game 5 of the Warriors series against the Boston Celtics when they took the court floor and held a banner that read “Overturn Roe? Hell No!”
Video obtained from John Burris, McKnight's attorney, shows security guards dragging the two protestors by their feet out of the arena.
Once outside, McKnight said that a San Francisco Police sergeant threatened to sedate her.
San Francisco Fire Department employees proceeded to strap her down to a gurney and take her toward an emergency vehicle, she said.
“While I was on the ground, handcuffed in front of the emergency vehicle, one of the firefighters came with a needle towards me and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and I flinched and I said, ‘No!’ what if I’m allergic, you can’t just inject me,’” McKnight recalled.
According to McKnight, the paramedic didn't ask about her medical history and didn't disclose what she had been injected with.
“Giving an injection to a protester against her will is shocking and illegal,” Burris said, accusing officials of violating his client's Fourth Amendment right to control.
Sedative use by law enforcement garnered national attention following the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, who was injected by paramedics that gave him 1.5 times the dose of a sedative than he should have received.
San Francisco’s policy on handling adults “with severe agitation posing a danger to self or others” allows for the use of midazolam, a short-acting sedative, according to the county’s emergency medical services protocols.
However, Burris said he has never heard of authorities sedating a fully restrained protester during his four decades as an attorney.
“The worst part of giving her the injection was that she was strapped to a gurney, handcuffed, and therefore was not a danger to herself or anyone else,” he said.
Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.